Way Down East.

[Javier]

On October 27th, 3:35 am central time FXM will broadcast Way Down East, the 1935 remake of the silent film
Which stars Henry Fonda, Rochelle Hudson, and supporting cast as Margaret Hamilton and Spring Byington, some of my favourite Actors.
This film has been labeled as the worst remake and/or film Henry King has ever made.

So, I will wait and perhaps will buy it when it comes on DVD. Just as his remake of Seventh Heaven with James Stewart, Simone Simon, Jean Hersholt, Sig Ruman Mady Christians, and Rafaela Ottiano.

Which I did not care for.

Up to this moment I wonder why Henry King did this.

[wich2]

It was a job.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

It was a job.

Precisely. In the space of about ten years, King also remade LIGHTNIN' (1930), OVER THE HILL (1931), RAMONA (1936) and LITTLE OLD NEW YORK (1940). JESSE JAMES (1939), too, if one counts it as a remake. If Fox / 20th Century Fox had the rights to a story which was a hit in the 1920s, a remake was fair game, and King was one of their most reliable and loyal directors, if not the most. I've not seen his WAY DOWN EAST yet, but I look forward to it, despite critics' carpings...

[drednm]

What I remember about the talkie version is that the climax is totally flat and can't come close to the silent classic's icy finale.

[Brooksie]

I haven't seen it, but I do recall that its production was complicated by Fox merging with Twentieth Century during pre-production, at a time when Daryl Zanuck was cutting the budgets of a number of Fox productions. Also, Janet Gaynor was due to star but was involved in a car accident, so they cast Rochelle Hudson, who was at leisure due to the postponement of Ramona. I imagine that Gaynor would have been a much better fit.